Stay
by Pie56
Summary: After a brush with death Olivia finds she needs Alex more than ever. (This is a rewrite of my old story of the same name).
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLIAMER: These characters don't belong to me :( **

Author's note- Hey guys, this fic has been given a bit of a facelift. So, as briefly as possible, I will explain my plans. If you read this fic before it was pulled, I apologize because I couldn't get past the third paragraph before I wanted to go kick past me in the ovaries. That being said, I think the framework for it wasn't bad, so I plan on rewriting most of it, using the basic plot that was already there.

Reviews for me are the biggest incentive to continue, but I do realize that you all might also like some incentive so I've decided to try something new. For every oneshot I write that reaches over 20 reviews, I will use a random number generator to pick a reviewer. That reviewer can then give me any prompt they want for any of my fandoms and I will write them their own oneshot. For multi-chapter fics I will do this every fifty reviews. I don't care if your review says that I'm a stupid face with no hope of success in life, just taking the time to let me know what you think, good or bad, really matters to me.

A huge thank you to all of you and my wonderful Beta batpiggy.

* * *

Olivia Benson sat at her desk reflecting on her day. She had been in bed, asleep for the first time in two days, when she got the call. Tyler Mason, who had been tagged for murdering and molesting his nine-year-old neighbor boy a few weeks earlier, had escaped from Rikers while awaiting sentencing.

It had taken twenty-six hours, with only a quick twenty minute nap in the crib around hour twelve, before they caught up with Mason. The search had been grueling, but they finally caught a lead thanks to an ex-cellmate.

The house he was hiding in was huge. It was just Elliot, Munch, Fin and her. They had called for backup but were afraid that he had snagged another victim, so they decided, after talking to Captain Cragen, that they had no choice but to go in.

The four detectives searched the main level and found nothing. Munch and Fin went to clear the basement while Elliot and Olivia moved to the staircase leading to the top floor. They tried to be as quiet as possible, moving smoothly as they cleared the first few rooms. Moving through the hallway, Olivia heard a rattling noise coming from one of the bedrooms near the end of the corridor. Before entering, she radioed back Elliot, to let him know she had found him. Walking in with her gun drawn, Olivia quickly spotted Mason standing poised in a corner. As she entered further, she saw that he had a gun of his own. The detective ordered him to put it down but Mason had other plans. He cocked the hammer, and then pointed the muzzle straight at her. A single shot could be heard as the two guns fired simultaneously.

When Olivia regained consciousness she was in the hospital being examined by an ER doctor. She asked him what had happened and he explained that she had been shot, but that her Kevlar vest had saved her life and that, at most, she would have a nasty bruise; he seemed to be more concerned with her head injury. The hospital was backed up, and the doctor told Olivia that he was waiting to send her for a MRI to rule out any permanent damage. After waiting for about twenty minutes she was sent up and luckily she was cleared. The doctor figured she probably passed out from the shock of being shot but he still wanted her to take it easy.

She signed herself out from the hospital and convinced Elliot drive her back to the precinct after promising him that she was just going to grab some things out of her locker and then go home. Her real plan was to just grab a few hours of sleep in the crib, the police station felt like a much safer place than her lonely apartment.

By the time the detectives arrived, the squad room was empty. Olivia quickly sent Elliot away, telling him to go be with his family. Once he left Olivia sat down, telling herself it was just for a minute. She put her head down on her desk and took a deep breath. '_Shit Benson. You could have died today and she would have never even known about how you feel. Stop being such a pussy and just tell her.' _She thought at herself.

Olivia was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't even hear Alex come into the room.

"Olivia?" Alex said. No response. She walked a little closer. "Olivia?" Still nothing. She bent down next to the detective and placed her hand lightly on Olivia's shoulder, not wanting to startle her. "Olivia?"

Olivia jumped slightly at the contact but quickly realized that the touch was soothing, not hurtful. She composed herself and turned to look at the blonde who was now level with her. "Alex? What are you doing here?"

"I heard that you guys found him. I heard that he shot you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She let out a heavy sigh. She paused. "No." It was hard for her to lie to Alex. "I don't know. Physically, I'm fine, just a bruise, but," She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I'm just a little rattled, I guess."

Alex sighed. "Come on."

"What? Where?"

"Come on. I'm taking you home."

"No, that's okay. I'm just gonna head up to the crib."

"Olivia, you have barely had a full eight hours of sleep in the past week. You need to go home and rest. Your body needs it. You need it."

"I guess you're right, but you don't have to worry about it Alex, I can grab a cab, or walk. It's no big deal."

"Nonsense. Plus, if I don't drive you, you'll probably just sneak up to the crib anyways. Come on."

"Fine." Olivia feigned annoyance, earning an exaggerated eye roll from Alex.

The two women walked out to Alex's car in silence. They climbed in and it wasn't long before Olivia fell asleep, which made Alex all the more grateful that Olivia hadn't taken a cab. Alex knew where Olivia's apartment was so she just left Olivia to sleep until they got there, which didn't take long because it was only two blocks away.

"Olivia, we're here."

"Hmm?"

Alex reached over and put her hand on Olivia's arm. "We're here."

Olivia opened her eyes. She was confused, before remembering that Alex had given her a ride. "Hey." She said, sleep heavy in her voice.

"Hi."

"Thanks Alex."

"You're welcome." Alex said as she turned her car off.

Olivia raised her eyebrows, silently asking for an explanation.

"Let me see you up?"

"You don't have to."

"I really want to." Alex stated softly.

Olivia paused to contemplate before moving to exit the car, knowing Alex would follow. They made their way into the building. Luckily, it was late and there was nobody else around to disturb them. Olivia pushed the button next to the elevator, pleased to find it was already on the ground floor. The doors shut and Olivia leaned forward, pressing the number four and watching as it lit up.

"I was shot a few hours ago and this elevator music is still the worst part of my day." She tried to joke.

"That's not funny." Alex scolded.

"No, I guess it's not." Olivia agreed.

Alex was about to reach out for her, to remind herself that Olivia was alright, when a bell rang and the elevator doors slid open. Oblivious, Olivia exited and, again, Alex followed. They made their way down the hall and to Olivia's door. She slid her key in the lock and hearing the click turned the knob and pushed the door open.

"Are you going to tuck me in too?" She asked with a smirk.

"Well we've made it this far. And, if I turned around and left now, how do I know you won't just collapse right here and sleep on the floor?"

"I suppose you're right." Olivia played along. "Let me change first?"

"Of course."

Olivia moved to her room, she slipped out of her rumpled jeans and button-up shirt and slid into her favorite sweats and a baseball tee.

"I'm decent counselor." She called out as she moved to pull her comforter back.

It wasn't long before she heard steps behind her. She turned around and Alex took hold of the blanket in her hand holding it up so she could climb into bed. She slid beneath her sheets sighing as her head met her favorite pillow. Alex pulled the blankets up and tucked them around her body as if she were a child, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

"I think this is the only time I've ever been tucked in." Olivia tried to lighten the mood, but she knew she failed when she saw the way Alex tensed.

"You really scared me today." Alex whispered as she brushed some hair away from Olivia's eyes.

"Sorry."

"Just, don't let it happen again."

"Okay."

Alex took a deep breath and stood up patting Olivia's blanket hidden legs. "Get some sleep." She moved to leave when Olivia's voice stopped her.

"Stay. Please, stay with me."


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLIAMER: These characters don't belong to me :( **

Author's note- I planned on updating this earlier, but this is still a lot better than the six months it usually takes. Hopefully, if school doesn't get too crazy I can keep regular updates like this coming. Anyways, I hope you guys like this. Let me know what you think. -Pie

_"Stay. Please stay with me." Olivia said._

Alex was about to object and say that she couldn't intrude like that, then the light from the moon coming through the window shifted slightly and hit Olivia's face just right so they could make eye-contact. Alex then realized that Olivia wasn't trying to be polite. She looked at Olivia and saw something that she had never seen from the seasoned detective. Vulnerability. Olivia was opening herself up to Alex, letting her guard down. There were very few people who were allowed to see Olivia like this and it melted Alex's heart that she was one of those few people.

"Okay, I'll stay." Alex said softly.

Alex took off her shoes and stripped down to her undershirt and panties since she hadn't gotten a chance to change after work, then she climbed in to bed next to Olivia. Once she was settled Olivia reached out and grabbed her hand.

"Why are you still here?" Olivia asked, her soft voice breaking the steady silence.

"You just asked me to stay." Alex responded in a confused voice.

"No, I mean, with us, SVU. We've barely managed to hold on to an ADA for more than a month. Why have you stayed? And don't tell me it's because of politics because I know that's not true."

Alex wasn't sure how she should respond. She hadn't really thought about it. When she was first assigned to SVU, she thought it would be a great move for her career and after a few months she'd move on, hopefully to a bigger office. Now, it had been just shy of two years and she couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

Olivia mistook her silence. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I just…" She trailed off, gathering her thoughts. "I guess…all of us have a reason to be here, to stay. I'm here because of my mom, Elliot does it for his kids, Munch does it because he's already made the rounds everywhere else, and Fin just can't imagine going back to anywhere else anymore. In my experience, you don't stay at SVU without a good reason."

"No, you don't." Alex agreed. "When I decided to be a lawyer, I knew right away I wanted to be a prosecutor. I wanted to be on the side with the good guys. My first few years in the DA's office were boring, and that's when I decided that I needed to find a way to move up the chain, because I knew I couldn't stand to be that bored for the rest of my life. But when I was transferred to special victims, I realized I wasn't bored anymore. I felt good, because I was finally doing what I went to law school to do. I was making a difference, I was- I am helping people. And it doesn't hurt that I got a great group of people helping me." Alex answered.

"Yeah, we're pretty awesome." Olivia tried to lighten the mood.

"And humble too." Alex laughed.

"I like it when you're like this." Olivia said as she shifted on her side so she could see Alex.

"Like what?"

"Laughing. At work it everything is always so heavy, I like it when we're together outside of all the heaviness, when we can just talk and laugh and be light." Olivia knew she sounded a little ramble-y, the day's events catching up to her.

"I like it too." Alex agreed.

Olivia just smiled. Her eyelids were starting to droop. "'Night Lex."

"Good night Olivia."

* * *

"_Drop the Gun Mason."_

_Instead of replying he cocked the hammer._

"_Put. It. Down." She could hear the confidence in her voice that she could no longer feel._

"_I don't think I will." His voice was cold and hard. He raised his gun and pointed it straight at her. She reacted just as fast. Pop. Pop. Suddenly she felt herself being propelled backwards, her hand instantly flew up to her chest searching for an answer to what had just happened to her. Out of nowhere a sharp pain came from the back of her head. They say your life flashed before your eyes when you face death, but all she saw was blackness surrounding her and pulling her under._

Olivia's eyes flew open as she drew in a quick breath. She could feel her body covered in a cold sweat.

Alex woke up when she felt Olivia's body jerk next to her. She spoke softly not wanting to startle Olivia. "Olivia are you alright?"

Olivia took a few moments to steady her breathing before responding. "Sorry. Just a bad dream."

"It's okay, don't apologize." Alex reached out and grabbed Olivia's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I was in that house, that room. I gave him a way out, but he didn't want it. He wanted to die, he wanted to kill me. I could feel the bullet hit me, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't do anything, I couldn't think about anything besides…" Olivia trailed off.

"Besides what honey?" Alex asked, not wanting to push her but hoping that if they talked about it Olivia would feel better.

Olivia sighed and made contact with Alex's eyes. "Blackness, it was all just dark. I tried to fight, but it pulled me under. I felt like I was going to die, there should have been a light or an epiphany, but it was just dark. What does that say about my life?"

"It was just a dream Liv, a nightmare; the whole point of one is to be scary. It doesn't mean anything."

"But it wasn't just a dream, that's exactly how it happened. Today, when I was shot, that's exactly what happened, it just went dark."

"Come here." Alex said.

Olivia did what she was told and moved into Alex's arms letting herself be comforted by the ADA. Alex gently rocked Olivia and rubbed her back.

"None of this means that you haven't accomplished anything in life. You've done so much, you've helped so many people. So there wasn't some burst of light, maybe that's because you weren't dying, and the blackness can easily be explained by the fact that you hit your head pretty hard and your body was dealing with the shock of being shot. It has been a very long scary day, but you're going to be just fine, you'll move on, and you'll continue to be the amazing person you are."

"I just feel like there's something I'm missing out on, all I do is work, and it's good but there has to be something else. There has to be something to pull me out of that darkness."

"Then you'll find it, hell, I'll help you find it. But for now take a deep breath and go back to sleep. We'll figure this out in the morning when there's coffee and breakfast."

"Okay." Olivia agreed.

"Okay."

It didn't take long before Olivia fell back to sleep and Alex wasn't long behind her.


End file.
